QuickBooks Cleanup in Los Angeles | Los Angeles Bookkeeper

Short answer: QuickBooks cleanup in Los Angeles fixes a QuickBooks file that no longer matches the bank, starting from a trusted date, usually the end of the last year your CPA filed. The balance sheet is fixed first, then income and expenses are recoded and every account is reconciled month by month. You get a written summary of the changes.

What a QuickBooks cleanup fixes

What you see	What it usually means
Bank balance in QuickBooks differs from the bank	Missing, duplicated or deleted transactions, or a forced reconciliation
Undeposited Funds keeps growing	Customer payments recorded but never matched to deposits
Opening Balance Equity has a balance	Accounts were started with guessed balances
Uncategorized Income or Expense is large	Feed items accepted without review
Sales look too low	Processor deposits booked as sales, with fees left out
Loans show the wrong balance	Payments booked as expense with no principal and interest split
Old uncleared checks from years ago	Voided or duplicate checks that were never removed

The order the work is done in

Back up and document Before anything changes, the current state is saved and the problems are listed.
Pick a trusted date Usually the end of the last year your CPA filed. That balance is the anchor.
Fix the balance sheet first Cash, cards, loans, receivables and payables are corrected before income and expenses, because the balance sheet decides whether the profit is right.
Recode income and expenses Transactions are moved to the right accounts, and rules are rewritten so the same mistakes stop.
Reconcile month by month Every account is reconciled against statements with no forced adjustments.
Lock it A closing date is set, and you get a summary of the changes for your CPA.

Should you clean up or start over?

Sometimes a fresh QuickBooks file is faster than fixing a broken one. That is true when the history is mostly unusable and nobody needs the old detail. It is rarely true when you have invoices, bills or payroll history inside QuickBooks that you still rely on.

The team will tell you which path is cheaper after looking at the file. Starting over still needs correct opening balances, which is a cleanup of its own.

Who usually asks for a QuickBooks cleanup

Owners who kept the books themselves while the business was small. Businesses whose previous bookkeeper left mid-year. Companies that grew and added accounts, cards and processors without updating the file. And owners whose CPA said, kindly, that the books needed work before the return could be done.

What you will get at the end

A QuickBooks Online file where every bank, card and loan account is reconciled month by month to the trusted date. A balance sheet with no Opening Balance Equity, no stray Undeposited Funds, and loans that match the lender. A profit and loss with processor fees, refunds and owner activity in the right places.

You also get a short written summary: what was wrong, what was changed, which months were affected, and anything still open because a document is missing. Your CPA can read it in a few minutes and decide whether any earlier filing needs attention.

After the cleanup

You keep a clean file and a list of the rules that keep it that way. If you would like the file kept for you, monthly QuickBooks bookkeeping picks up from the cleaned balance.

Where we work

We keep books for businesses across the City of Los Angeles, the Westside, the Eastside, the San Fernando Valley, the San Gabriel Valley, the Gateway Cities and the South Bay.

Questions

Will you delete my old transactions?

Only duplicates and items that are wrong. Real history is corrected, not removed, and changes are documented.

Can a cleanup change my past tax returns?

The books can change. Whether a filed return needs amending is a decision for you and your CPA, based on the summary of changes.

Do you clean up QuickBooks Desktop?

Yes. Some owners also use the cleanup as the moment to move to QuickBooks Online.

What access do you need?

An invited user with accountant or admin rights in QuickBooks Online, and read access to bank statements.

QuickBooks cleanup for Los Angeles businesses